Pioneer Elite or Denon?????

[septim]

Pioneer tends to sound brighter than Denon/Onkyo. I find brightness fatiguing and prefer the more laid back neutral Onkyo sound, but that's just me.

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by septim

Pioneer tends to sound brighter than Denon/Onkyo. I find brightness fatiguing and prefer the more laid back neutral Onkyo sound, but that's just me.

I've never heard Denon, but I wouldn't quite call Onkyo neutral and definitely not laid back being an owner of one. Yamaha is what I would call neutral. Onkyo has a slightly warmer and what I would call an aggressive sound. I like Onkyo's sound quite a bit, but they're not everyone's cup of tea. I've had Pioneer receivers before and I would say the sound veers slightly toward bright, but not overly bright by any means. Pioneer is a bit more musical than Onkyo IMO. If you want a warm sound then look at Harman Kardon. Again, I can't speak for Denon since I've never listened to one.

[werewuf]

Originally Posted by lojack1976

I've never heard Denon, but I wouldn't quite call Onkyo neutral and definitely not laid back being an owner of one. Yamaha is what I would call neutral. Onkyo has a slightly warmer and what I would call an aggressive sound. I like Onkyo's sound quite a bit, but they're not everyone's cup of tea. I've had Pioneer receivers before and I would say the sound veers slightly toward bright, but not overly bright by any means. Pioneer is a bit more musical than Onkyo IMO. If you want a warm sound then look at Harman Kardon. Again, I can't speak for Denon since I've never listened to one.

Pioneer in no way has a bright sound. Those honors in the past have always gone to Yamaha. The current line of Pio Elite receivers are head and shoulders above their audio endeavors of the past and rival any manufacturer available. I did a head to head audition of Denon and Elite and gave the Onkyo's a listen, the Pioneer won my money. I replaced a Harman Kardon AVR-7200 with my VSX-94, the 94 once again being a much more musical sounding receiver.

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by werewuf

Pioneer in no way has a bright sound. Those honors in the past have always gone to Yamaha. The current line of Pio Elite receivers are head and shoulders above their audio endeavors of the past and rival any manufacturer available. I did a head to head audition of Denon and Elite and gave the Onkyo's a listen, the Pioneer won my money. I replaced a Harman Kardon AVR-7200 with my VSX-94, the 94 once again being a much more musical sounding receiver.

I've never heard anyone say that Yamaha had bright receivers. I've always considered them to be pretty neutral and I think most people would agree. Pioneer makes fantastic receivers and I would have gotten Elite if I had the money to spend at the time. I would still say that they are a tad brighter than an Onkyo, but that's not a bad thing in my opinion. I still wouldn't say that Pioneer makes an overly bright receiver. They are very musical to my ears and I've always been a Pioneer fan. Pioneer was the choice of my mother when she was big on music years ago. Since you've had an HK receiver I'm sure you would agree that there is huge difference between the two and the Pioneer would definitely be bright in comparison. Again though, that's not a bad thing.

[Colglizity]

Da Da-Da DAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I went and bought the Pioneer Elite 03 a couple days ago and I'm ecstatic. I went into bargaining mode with the sales guy and ended up getting it for $615 before tax. Pretty good for Magnolia A/V... Thank you all so much for your input and I will be posting pictures very soon.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Colglizity

Da Da-Da DAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I went and bought the Pioneer Elite 03 a couple days ago and I'm ecstatic. I went into bargaining mode with the sales guy and ended up getting it for $615 before tax. Pretty good for Magnolia A/V... Thank you all so much for your input and I will be posting pictures very soon.

Thats awesome....I want the 03 or 05 and that is a great deal! Everybody around me is getting new toys but me... .....I gotta do something about this! I know you will be happy with it, I hear it kicks butt. By the way, were you able to hear improvement in the quality of the sound right away?

[doctorD]

Originally Posted by Colglizity

Da Da-Da DAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I went and bought the Pioneer Elite 03 a couple days ago and I'm ecstatic. I went into bargaining mode with the sales guy and ended up getting it for $615 before tax. Pretty good for Magnolia A/V... Thank you all so much for your input and I will be posting pictures very soon.

congrats...I knew you'd enjoy it!

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by Colglizity

Da Da-Da DAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I went and bought the Pioneer Elite 03 a couple days ago and I'm ecstatic. I went into bargaining mode with the sales guy and ended up getting it for $615 before tax. Pretty good for Magnolia A/V... Thank you all so much for your input and I will be posting pictures very soon.

NICE! I know I'm late chiming in but I was wondering how your "road trip" went! Make sure you take a couple pics and post up your 03 showing "Dolby TrueHD" and "DTS-HD MSTR" as soon as you can!